Everything was silent.

The only sound in existence was the simple metronome on the mahogany desk, swaying back and forth. Silver Lupo, the newest head of Team Rocket, never put a clock in his office. Clocks eventually stopped working, just as his acquired organization had twice before. A metronome provided the same background noise that soothed his nerves but without the anxiety of a foreboding sense of finality. The simple machine never stopped, just as he needed Team Rocket to do.

The redhead stood up to fix his black suit only for his office door to open. His cold eyes glanced over to the source of intrusion only to find Archer standing before him. The young man stood a bit taller before fixing his tie, silently prompting his executive to continue.

"Sir," the man began with critical, narrowed eyes, "It seems the young Champion is here to see you." Silver's heart skipped a beat at his words, but he refused to show it. Instead the redhead simply sat back down in his leather office chair.

"Please, escort her in." The young boss watched as Archer nodded his head and left the room. The minute the blue-haired man left, Silver reached to his neck and pulled the satin tie from his throat, letting the fabric slip through his fingers and fall into a desk drawer. His namesake eyes lifted to the door just in time to see Archer dragging in a thrashing brunette with little trouble. The door opened one last time to shove the young woman in and shut the door only seconds before she rammed herself into the door.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Ms. Soul," Silver purred to get her attention. Lyra Soul spun around in anger to find her old rival sitting in front of a wall of ancient books, his eyes gleaming with pride. His eyes quickly found her lip to be busted open and bleeding, the red trickling down to her chin and staining a black leather jacket. "I wasn't expecting you to pay me a visit so soon."

"Don't you dare talk to me," the brunette snapped. Her brilliant brown eyes were filling quickly with a fog, leading the young man to believe she was seconds from crying. "I'm not here to socialize. I'm here to make sure you're dealt with." She fumbled to reach for a Pokéball on her belt, her hand shaking as she did so. Silver simply grinned before standing up and nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.

"You don't seem to understand, Lyra." His cold, metallic eyes brightened at the sight of her holding the Pokéball out in front of her, her thumb hovering above the summon button, just as she always had done before their battles. "I'm the strongest man in the entire world." He paused for a moment before giving her a dismissive flick of the wrist. "Well, I will be the strongest in the world period, once I defeat you."

The brunette snarled despite her quivering knees, leaving a bitter taste in Silver's mouth at the sight. He always wanted to be stronger, but the sight of his old rival, the one person who ever seemed to care about him, faltering and bleeding made him feel uneasy. Unfortunately, it was too late. He had taken a sip of power and now he craved even more. There was no stopping the burning in his chest.

"I won't let you win," Lyra snarled. Her tears were slipping down her cheeks now, merging with the blood on her chin. "I'm going to stop you now and take you far away from here. You'll never come anywhere near Team Rocket again."

"Do you really want me with you that badly," the redhead blurted. He turned his head to find her glaring at him with unsteady breaths, ragged and dare he even think it, fearful. He took her lack of a response as a confirmation and so he kept talking. "If that's the case, how about we make a deal?"

His feet walked him over to the young Champion without his prompting, stopping only when he was beside her and facing the door she had come from. The glass door was marred with blood, probably from when Lyra had stubbornly thrown herself at the door.

"How about this," he chuckled, his right hand absently reaching for her left cheek and brushing away a few stray tears before tucking his hand back in his pocket. "If you win our little battle, I'll come up to the surface with you with no trouble at all. However, if I win," he paused, his eyes drifting to find her face emotionless and her arm still holding her Pokéball out in front of her, "You will stay here, with me."

"Fine then," the brunette spat. Silver smirked in triumph before walking back in front of her and leaning back on the desk. "Just know that I will never lose to someone like you." Her voice caught in her throat as she lifted her chin just a bit higher in defiance, ignoring how the blood dripped to the floor.

Silver just smiled as he pressed a concealed button in front of his precious metronome. The large office suddenly went dark as hidden machinery recalled the antique settings and replaced them with a large battlefield, something he had created and installed specifically for her and her alone. The lights flicked back on to reveal the suit-donning Rocket Boss at the other end of the field, a Pokéball in his own hand and standing with pride, just as he had in all of their rival encounters.

"Prepare yourself, Lyra," the man shouted as he hurled his Pokémon into battle. "I'm not going to show you any sympathy!"

The final blast knocked both Trainer and Pokémon back, giving the room a burst of sound and vibrant red light. The Mafia Boss grinned in the thick of his adrenaline, watching with ravenous pride as the brunette slammed into the glass door and slumped forward, falling face first to the ground. Her hands balled up in fists as her prized Meganium wilted in defeat beside his Trainer, unable to stand after such a powerful Lava Plume attack. Silver recalled his triumphant Typlosion and walked ahead to his opponent's side of the field.

The fallen Herb Pokémon growled in warning at his approach, but the young man ignored the Meganium's warning. Instead Silver stopped in front of his fallen opponent and kneeled in front of her, his namesake eyes focused on her face. Lyra pulled her head out of the dirt and looked up at him with narrowed eyes of overwhelming pain. If the redhead looked close enough, he could have sworn that he could see grief in her eyes, as if she was looking at a dead man. The Rocket Boss just chuckled at the thought. He had never felt more alive in his entire life. He was finally the strongest in the entire world, just as he had wished since his childhood.

Silver reached down and lifted her chin with his hand, earning a sharp breath from the fallen Champion. His cold eyes warmed for a fraction of a second, lighting up with a small spark of something he had left behind. His smile was genuine as he brushed the trail of blood with his thumb, painting his finger a deep crimson. The metronome was the only sound in the air as the victorious Rocket Boss spoke once again.

"It seems that I win, Lyra. Looks like you're staying right here."

Author's Note: I couldn't stop myself from writing yet something else with a Team Rocket setting. However, not all of my Rocket Boss Silver iterations are pleasant. Some of them are a bit more twisted. On a side note, Silver's office is heavily inspired by his office in "The Pains of Being in Charge" and mixed with his precious high-tech battlefield for good measure.